


Love

by kitlee625



Series: Consanguinity [4]
Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Sibling Incest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-26
Updated: 2013-10-26
Packaged: 2017-12-30 12:25:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,321
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1018579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kitlee625/pseuds/kitlee625
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The way he feels about Brienne is so different than the way he feels about Cersei it doesn't seem right that the same word can be used to describe the two emotions.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Love

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own these characters. They belong to George RR Martin.

After the big announcement Ned insists on opening a bottle of champagne - the good stuff, the stuff Cersei brought back from her last business trip to Paris, the stuff she and Jaime drank while holed up in that hotel in Paris on their grand tour of Europe taken to celebrate their graduation from Westeros. It always reminds Jaime of that trip, and he chokes on his first sip. When Brienne hears him coughing violently next to her she shoots him a worried look. Perhaps she takes it as a sign that he is regretting his proposal, so he smiles back and gestures that he's okay. When she turns her head towards his father, who is giving a speech on the importance of family, he steals a glance at Cersei. She is gripping the stem of her glass so tightly that her knuckles are white. Their eyes meet, and then hers flicker towards the stairs, and he knows to meet her in her bedroom after dinner.

The rest of Christmas dinner is lively enough. Eleven-year old Myrcella wants to know every detail of how Jaime proposed and what they think their wedding will be like, while five year old Arya just wants to know if she's going to have to wear a dress. Brienne fields most of their questions. She and Jaime haven't talked much about the details of the wedding but know that they want to do it simply and sooner rather than later.

Tyrion chuckles into his wine glass when he hears their plans to marry quickly. “I hope this isn't another shotgun wedding.”

Cersei turns scarlet with rage, and even Ned looks embarrassed.

Tommen asks innocently, “What's a shotgun wedding?”

“Nothing,” Cersei and Ned say in unison. 

“It's not important,” Ned says, “eat your dinner.”

Myrcella ducks her head so her face is hidden behind her blonde curls. She's old enough to know what Tyrion is talking about and old enough to notice that her birthday is a scant six months after her parents' anniversary. She's always been a sweet girl, and Jaime longs to place a reassuring hand on her shoulder, but it's Ned who does that.

After dinner Ned organizes the family for a basketball match. He selects Jaime as the other team captain then picks Arya first. Taking his lead, Jaime picks Tommen, who is thrilled to have been chosen first by his beloved uncle, the former Westeros University basketball star. They divide up the rest of the family except for Tyrion and Cersei, who refuse to play. Ned picks Myrcella and Tywin while Jaime gets Bran and Brienne. Tyrion sits on a chair on the patio watching them play while keeping a running commentary in a slightly slurred announcers voice. 

Cersei hovers on the edge of the court making sure the younger children don't get hurt. She stays long enough to watch Jaime lift Tommen above his head so the boy can dunk the ball before catching Jaime's eye and turning towards the house. In his head he counts down five minutes, even as he high fives Tommen and then blocks Ned's shot. When five minutes are up he excuses himself to use the restroom leaving Brienne in charge of their side.

He finds her upstairs in her room, a glass of champagne in one hand and a fresh bottle on the dresser. She is standing at the window peering down at the driveway where the game is. She must have heard him coming up the steps because without turning she says, “Close the door.”

He does so, then comes up behind her and puts his arms around her waist. She recoils at his embrace.

“How dare you?” she snaps. He knows it's not just about the hug. She pulls the curtains shut and then turns to face him. Her eyes are angry but also hurt. “You're getting married.”

“Yeah.” The silence that follows is thick with everything they cannot say. At last Jaime clears his throat and says defensively, “You got married.”

“I had to get married, as our brother was kind enough to point out at dinner,” she says coldly.

“You didn't have to marry Ned.”

Cersei snorts, and Jaime bristles with anger.

“I asked you first -” he begins, but she cuts him off with a sarcastic laugh.

“Not that again! Don't be an idiot Jaime. We could not have gotten married.”

His head throbs. It's an old argument, one neither of them will let go of. “Yes, we could have. Not here, but we could have run away together – gone to Paris or England or anywhere.”

“With what money? Our trust funds were still under Father's control.”

“I would have supported us. I could have been a bartender or a waiter, done construction, I don't know. I would have done anything. But that wasn't enough for you.”

“It wasn't just me I was thinking of. It was Myrcella too,” she shoots back.

“I love you,” Jaime says. It's what he always says at this point in the argument because he can't think of anything else to say.

Cersei busies herself refilling her champagne. With her back to him, she asks, “Do you love her?” He can almost hear tears in her voice, and he wonders how much she's had to drink already.

Again he doesn't know what to say. The way he feels about Brienne is so different than the way he feels about Cersei it doesn't seem right that the same word can be used to describe the two emotions. Brienne is comfortable and familiar. They've been dating for over four years now, so long that even Cersei's children are nagging him about when they're going to get married. More than that though she's the best person he's ever met. She makes him want to be a better person, a better businessman. To try to be a real father. 

In contrast Cersei has always felt like a force of nature. His feelings for her are like a hurricane, rushing over him, knocking him off his feet, and carrying him out to sea. Even now, in the bedroom she shares with Ned, with his fiancé downstairs, he wants to rip off her clothes and fuck her up against the wall.

He clenches his fists and says, “Yes, I do.”

“And she't not pregnant?”

“No.” He pauses while he considers how much of the truth to tell her, then admits, “but we're talking about having a kid soon.”

A scowl mars Cersei's carefully crafted calm veneer. “Fuck.”

She reaches for the champagne bottle, and he notices a second glass hiding behind it. She fills it, hands it to him, then tilts her own glass towards him. “To the future Mr. and Mrs. Jaime Lannister.”

He takes a long drink of the champagne. Drinking it with her brings back a rush of memories – of lying in their bed in their Parisian hotel, exhausted from fucking day and night. Jaime had convinced her to pretend that they were a newly married couple on that trip. He had wanted to show her that they really could run away together. But his plan had backfired. Everyone was nice enough to their face, but they got a lot of strange looks when they introduced themselves as husband and wife followed by furtive whispers behind their backs. On more than one occasion they had overheard someone say that they looked more like siblings than spouses.

Drinking it makes him want to beg her to run away with him one more time, but he knows that he's not that same young man anymore, and she's not the same woman. Her children have changed her, and Brienne has changed him. So they stand there and drink the champagne that reminds them of a time when all they had was their all-consuming love for one another and watch their children play basketball with the people they've chosen to make their lives with.

**Author's Note:**

> While working on the next chapter of Unraveled, I felt inspired to write another scene from the same universe to further describe some of the relationships. This takes place after Consanguinity and before Unraveled.


End file.
